Recipes from the Vault: Chuckwagon Pepper Steak

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Every so often, the museum receives a donation that includes a cookbook or recipe card. Sometimes the recipes are familiar comfort foods still served on many Thomas County tables. Others… well, let’s just say some recipes are best left in the past. This series highlights some of those recipes: from the classics to the experimental. If you try any of these recipes, successfully or not, let us know what you think in the comments!

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Today’s recipe comes from Mrs. Ralph Durham with the First Baptist Church in Thomasville. Clara Elizabeth Swift (1911 Gardner, FL – 2002 Boone, NC) married William Ralph Durham sometime before 1935 in Perry, Florida. In 1938, their only child, Harvey Ralph Durham, was born. The family moved to Thomasville by 1941 and quickly became involved with the First Baptist Church on Broad Street. William became a deacon and superintendent over the Sunday school while Clara taught the Philathea Class, a bible study group for women.

Their son Ralph attended Thomasville High School where he was involved in many extra curriculars. After graduating, he attended Wake Forrest and the University of Georgia, before eventually getting his PhD in Mathematics. By 1967, Ralph was made a professor of mathematics at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. A few years later, Clara and William moved to North Carolina to be closer to their son and his family.

Big brains for mathematics need a lot of protein. Clara cooked this recipe for steak at her home and shared it with her fellow congregants at First Baptist Church of Thomasville in 1962. As you light up the grill this summer, why not try out her recipe, and let us know how you liked it?

Chuck Wagon Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

1 boneless chuck steak 2’ thick

1 tsp.  unflavored tenderizer

2 tbs. minced onion

The church as Clara would have known it. Thomasville History Center Collection: First Baptist Church – 3rd Building – 1968.

2tsp. thyme

1 tbs. butter

1 bay leaf

1 cup wine Vinegar

½ cup Olive Oil

3 tbs. lemon juice

2 tbs. cracked pepper

Directions:

Put tenderizer on steak, let stand for 30 minutes. Mix other ingredients and pour over steak turning often from one to two hours.

Remove meat.

Grill to a rich brown about 15 minutes on each side.

Mrs. Ralph Durham

First Baptist News – “Seekers Specialties” for Your Kitchen 6/10/62 Vol. 8 No. 60